Upholstered chair seat construction



Sept. 1, 1936. A. SUEKOFF UPHQLSTERED CHAIR SEAT CONSTRUCTION 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 25, 1932 Jami; AjzaQfi v m-n Sept. 1,1936. L. A. SUEKQFF V 2.052,s11

UPHOLSTERED CHAIR SEAT CONSTRUCTION Filed July 25, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Sept. 1, 1936 FATE- i OFFICE UPHOLSTERED CHAIR SEAT CONSTRUCTION Louis A. Suekofi, Wilmette, IlIQ; Pauline Suekoff, administratrix of said Louis. A. Suekoff,

deceased, assignor to Naclim an' Spring Filled Corporation, Chicago, I'IL, a corporation of' Illinois Application July 25, 1932, Serial No. 624579 7 1 Claim.

This invention relates to improvements in upholstered furniture seats and more particularly and specifically to improvements in seat cushion structures for chairs of the dining room type wliich are, as a rule, inadequately upholstered to render them comfortable, this being especially true of the cheaper and most commonly used chairs of this general type.

The main object of the present invention is to provide a chair seat equipped with a spring assembly of a very simple and efficient construction which includes means whereby the same may readily and durably be mounted upon the seat frame of a chair of the general type above-mentioned, and also includes means whereby said assembly-may be shaped to suit the ideas of the manufacturer of such chairs to render the ultimate upholstered seat attractive in shape and comfortable to the occupant of the chair.

The objects of the invention include the provision of a seatframe and a spring assembly therefor which is relatively cheap and may be easily and quickly and, therefore, cheaply constructed, and which will afford the comfort andappearance of a generally far more expensive type of chair.

A suitable embodiment 'of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings where-' in;

Fig l is a vertical sectional view of a spring assembly constructed in accordance with the invention,

Fig.- 2 is a similar view showing a conventional,

chair seat; equipped with a spring assembly of the type shown in Fig. 1.-

Fig, 3 is a plan view of the chair seat shownin Fig. 2;

Figs.- 4 and 5 are transverse sectional views, at right angles to each other, showing the invention embodied in a slip-seat frame for chairs.

This invention includes a conventional type of chair seat frame of a quadrangular type such as is usually found in dining room chairs. The latter are generally made of wood and'include relatively light and shallow seat frames consistto the fact that the loads onthe seats of such chairstend-to pull out the fastening means by which the spring supports are so secured, the said rails are required to be made relatively thick and heavy, and relatively long and strong nails or the like are required for securing the spring supports to the rails: 5 V

It is quite obvious that if the spring support-'- ingmeans are secured to the upper edges or faces of the rails of the, seat frames of chairs, smaller and lighter fastening devices may be used and appreciable economy be effected thereby. Additionally to this advantage, it is not necessary to invert the chair frame in order to secure the spring supporting means thereto and, in the case of those chairs which are equipped with legbraces below the seat frame which interfere with the free swing of hammers, there is a further disadvantage in and objectionto the use of spring supports secured to thelower edges of the rails because the operation of securing the same is far slower than that of securing the spring surrportingiineans' to the upper edges or faces" of the rails of the seat frames;

.It.is alsowell known'that fabric spring supports will stretch and sag more or less under the strain of seat loads. This stretching and sag-= ging is more disadvantageous from the stand point of appearance than from the purely practical viewpoint in that the said spring supporting means become too prominently visible from a short-distance afterhaving sagged, in the instances where'such supporting fabric means are secured to the lower edges or facesof the chair seat frame rails,whereas; ifthe'same are secured tothe upper edges or facesof the rails of the seat frame, such sagging will not bring said fabric supports into view.

In constructing a chair seat in accordance with my invention, I employ a spring assembly comprisingtop' and bottom fabric walls 2 and 3, each. consisting of a single piece of fabric of far larger area than isv occupied by the springs l'interpos'ed between the'same substantially can: trally thereof. These springs'i are of equalsize's' and of uniform strength and are suitably held in spaced relation to each other.

In the instance illustrated, the springs 4 are contained in pockets or rectangular cells formed by means of fabric strips 5 and 6, extending transversely of each other and which are stitched along their top and bottom edges to the walls 2 and 3 as, for example, is shown and described in the Letters Patent to L. A. Suekoff No. 1,411,- 22'7v However, any other suitable means may of the spring assembly are of appreciably greater.

area than that of the seatframe.

The said walls 2 and 3 may be of burlap or of other strong, durable, and relatively cheap material capable of sustaining heavy seat loads without tearing.

' In the instance illustratedin Figs. 1, 2, and 3.

the marginal portions of the top and bottom walls of the spring assembly are forced into contact with each other along lines substantially coincident with the size and contour of the upper face of the seat frame in such manner as will partially compress the marginal springs of the group and produce a finished structure having the general shape of a bed-pillow, wherein the group of springs is centrally disposed.

This bringing together of the marginal portions of the walls 2 and 3 is effected along lines imprinted upon the outer faces of said marginal portions, at the time of securing the latter to the upper edges or faces of the rails I, by means of tacks or the like inserted through said marginal portions along said imprinted lines and which are driven into the rails l.

The bottom wall 3 of the spring assembly thus becomes the spring and load supporting element and, therefore, is'preferably made of a heavier or stronger fabric than the wall 2. Furthermore, the said marginal portions of the walls 2 and 3 may be folded over along lines immediately outwardly of the imprinted lines to afford further resistance to rupture by the tacks under the influence of load on the seat cushion.

After thus mounting the spring assembly upon the seat frame, the padding and cover fabric are supplied to provide a finished cushion. The latter is thus equipped with load supporting springs disposed in' proper position to bear-the load of the weight of the occupant and yield thereto to a far greater and more comfortable extent than is usual in the case of upholstered seat chairs of the dining room type, andparticularly of the smaller or armless chairs of this type.

In the case of slip-seat frames 1, such as are shown in Figs. 4 and 5, wherein the tails are relatively wide and border a central quadrangular opening of less. area than in the'case of seat frames of the type shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3,

it is preferable to secure the bottom wall 3 to the-upper faces of the rails along the marginal portions of the said bottom wall along lines spaced from'the seatframe opening and also spaced -,from .the. outer edges of the rails and from the 7 lines along which the marginal portions of the top wall 2 of the springassembly are secured to the upper faces of the said rails as clearly shown by: the respective sets of tacks 8 and 9, or the like, as shown in Figs. land 5.

In practice the said marginal portions of the lower wall 3 are first secured to the upper face of the seat frame I in such position as to determine the ultimate plane of support for the springs 4, the portion H] of the fabric being somewhat slack before the marginal portions of the top 7 fabric 2 are secured in place as shown.

Thesprings 4 are maintained compressed to the requisite degree to determine the plane of the top face of the spring assembly afterdriv ing the tacks 9 or the like into place, said springs being maintained in such compressed condition during the operation of driving the said tacks 9.

In both structures, the marginal portion of the top fabric between the tacks 9 and the group of springs 4, is spaced from the marginal portion of the bottom fabric, and, in the structure of Figs.

4 and 5, said top fabric is also spaced from the top face of the seat frame. Air spaces are thus provided in the marginal portion of, the assembly over which the marginal portions of padding and cover fabric are disposed and are normally firmly supported. These marginal portions of said pad-' ding and cover fabric yield readily'to the sagging of the middle portions under the influence of load. 7

In the light of the foregoing statements of objects of the invention, and the explanation of the disadvantages incident to chairs wherein the spring supporting means are secured to the lower edges of the .rails of the seat frame, theadvantages of the present invention will be readily understood and appreciated.

I claim as my invention: V A chair seat comprising a seat frame presenting an opening, a spring assembly comprising a pair of fabric sheets having free marginal portlons and having central portions constituting the top and bottom walls of a casing, partition and division walls extending transversely to each.

other secured at their top and bottom edges to said central portions of said fabric sheetsand cooperating with the latter to form a plurality of rows of individual substantially square cells, each spaced from the next adjacent cell by a.

single thickness of fabric and all of which are spaced from the peripheral edge portions of said 'sheets and covering an area less than that of the opening in the seat frame, upholstery springs of equal length and strength and of greater length 7 above the said plane and maintained under ten sion for cooperation with the lower fabric sheet to maintain the marginal springs of said cells under constant compression to a greater extent than the remaining springs to provide a substantially pillow-shaped yielding support Within the opening of said seat frame.

LOUIS A. SUEKQFF. 

